


Just Because We’re Friends Doesn’t Mean We’re Friends

by pastel_aesthetic_kagehina



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Abusive Lonnie Byers, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Billy Hargrove Redemption, Bisexual Steve Harrington, F/F, Gay Billy Hargrove, Gay Will Byers, I tagged this wrong lol !, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Lesbian Heather Holloway, Lesbian Robin Buckley, M/M, Neil Hargrove Being an Asshole, Protective Billy Hargrove, Protective Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley & Billy Hargrove Friendship, Steve and Robin barely know each other, Teenage Party (Stranger Things), i forgot actual serious tags because i’m dumb, i just really like billy hargrove, i love robin guys, lonnie byers is a bitch and i hate him, maybe blyler?, steve nancy billy robin and stuff are all 18, sue me??, the party are all 14 or 15, what are you gonna do, yes i made will pretty much only ever eat pig meat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:41:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25317712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastel_aesthetic_kagehina/pseuds/pastel_aesthetic_kagehina
Summary: Just because Steve calls Billy saying that something has happened to Will doesn’t mean they’re friends. And just because, after the incident, they become closer,  doesn’t mean they’re friends. And just because Billy might have a teeny tiny little crush on Steve, it does NOT make them friends. because Billy Hargrove and Steve Harrington ARENT. FRIENDS.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley/Heather Holloway
Kudos: 50





	1. The Call (chapter one)

**Author's Note:**

> oh also the actual owner of this account isn’t me, i am but a humble leech 😔. but i also don’t edit my work most of the time so uhhhhhhh

Steve Harrington and Billy Hargrove were not friends.

They tolerated each other because Steve was the mother figure of The Party, and (as much as he hates to admit it) Billy has a soft spot for Max and Will. 

They were nicer to each other after the incident with the Mind Flayer, sure. Billy had started to go to therapy. Steve had even offered to pay for a portion of it (“I have more money then I know what to do with, Hargrove, just let me give you a bit of it.”), but that does not make them friends.

They talked to each other sometimes, after Billy had apologized more times than he had ever hit Steve. Steve was the forgiving type, so when Billy offered to fix his car for free, Steve had already forgiven the blonde. But they mostly only ever talked about the kids, and he only fixed his car because it was technically his fault that it was wrecked, so that doesn’t make them friends.

Billy had been picking Steve up and driving him to work for the past month, sure, but that’s just because Steve’s dad had taken away his precious BMW and Robin was constantly with Heather, which meant no way of transportation for Harrington. So it wasn’t extremely out of the blue when Steve called the Hargrove residence at 6 in the morning, asking Billy if he could “possiblypickmeupbecausemydadtookmycarlastnightbecausehesawthereportcard”, and it wasn’t surprising when Billy just sighed into the receiver and told Harrington to “be ready in 5 minutes, or I’m leaving without you and you’ll have to walk, pretty boy,” and hung up. And it wasn’t extremely surprising when this became a sort of ritual, Steve calling everyday at 6:03 asking if Billy can pick him up for school (even though he knows Billy will always just sigh and tell him to be ready in 5). But they are both friends with the kids which means that they see each other all the time, so why wouldn’t they want to get a bit more comfortable with each other. For the kids sake. But that doesn’t mean they’re friends.

And just because, 5 minutes prior, Steve called Billy frantically at 10 at night, sounding like he’s just been crying, saying that he needs Billy to pick him up because “Something happened-” hiccup “Will, his dad he-” he pants and coughs, muttering a curse, “he did something I don’t know but he called me crying and I know you really care and I don’t have a car and I need your help and godDAMNIT I CAN’T GET MY FUCKING SHOE ON!” and Steve lets out a sob and that’s when everything Steve said finally clicks with him. “Steve, calm down, I’ll be there in 5, 3 if I speed.” and he hangs up the phone, bain going into autopilot because the only thing that really settled with him is that Will is in danger and it’s his father’s fault, and BIlly wished when he was WIll’s age that he had someone like Steve. And just because, when he pulls into Steve’s driveway, and Harrington runs into his car, clearly crying, and tells Billy where to go, doesn’t mean they’re friends. Because they are doing this for Will. 

Billy steals glances at Steve, itching to comfort him in some way, maybe give him his jacket, anything, just to get Steve to stop crying. As he cuts onto the highway, he turns up the radio. It’s Boys Don’t Cry, and Billy hpes Steve doesn’t notice when he turns up the volume a few more notches and sits up a bit straighter.

“Like the song, Hargrove?” Steve says, turning to look at him for the first time, trying to sound confident, but it ends up sounding like a wounded animal.

“You know, if you weren’t crying right now, I would tell you to shut the fuck up,” Billy spits back, more laughter then bite, relieved that Steve finally said something, because after months in quarantine, he can’t bare the silence for very long.

“It never stopped you before,” Steve says, and after a few seconds he realizes what he just said. Billy shrinks back, just a bit, his confident fasade cracking. “Shit, Bill, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that I swear. I’m just-” he stops. Sighs. Looks like e;s reevaluating himself. “I’m just scared for Will and I took it out on you. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. You aren’t that person anymore.” He looks like he’s going to reach out, so Bily puts his hand down. Tests it. If Steve says something, it’ll be easy to play it off. Steve looks at his hand, and reaches, but instead of grabbing it, he grabs his wrist. “I didn’t take you for a bracelet type of guy, Hargrove.”

Good. Change the subject. Don’t talk about it. Save it for your therapist Billy. “Wanted to try something new I guess. Max made me that one.” He almost didn’t say the last part, but it’ll lead into a conversation about Max, about the kids, and they’ll fall back into their normal routine.

“That’s actually really swee-Shit turn here! TURN TURN HARGROVE HOLY SHIT ARE YOU DEAF?” Steve is screaming at him, and he’s trying to turn, but his car isn’t in the best shape, so it takes a bit. Much longer than Steve’s high-class BMW.

“Fuck, Harrington, I though you said it wasn’t for,” his voice dies down. There is Will, crying on the side of the road with a flashlight, and something i s wrong with the way he’s walking, with his eye. 

“He hit him.” Steve says it before Billy can.  
:  
“No shit, pretty boy.”

Steve is rushing out of the car towards Will, crouching down, touching his face, asking if he’s alright, but Will isn’t paying attention to him. He’s looking directly at Billy, and the look in his eye isn’t of hatred or disgust, it’s of understanding. It’s a look he never wants to see on any of The Party members face again. Then, Will is rushing to the car and opening Billy’s door and crowding into his space, and it takes a second for him to realize that Will is hugging him. And crying. He looks at Steve, who seems just as surprised, but also seems to tell Billy to hug Will, to comfort him. So he does. He wraps his arms around the younger boy and shushes him, asking him if he want to talk about it, telling him that it’ll be alright, that he doesn’t need to worry anymore. Will sobs louder and says “I wanted to call you but I-I didn’t know what your number was and I was sca-scared you wouldn’t pick u-u-u-up and I knew Jonathan would freak out so I called Steve ho-hoping he wo-would bring yo-yo-you.” he says, stuttering his way through it, trying to calm don and level his breathing.  
This takes Billy off guard; why would the kid want him? Billy thinks he knows for a moment, thinks maybe Will’s like him, and that thought terrifies him. This kid was born and raised in this town, he hasn't seen anything but hatred towards people like Billy (never Billy specifically, he’s to smart to come out while he’s still here.). The fear takes over and he asks the kid.  
“Why would you want me?”

“Because you understand.”

“Kid what are you talking about?”

Steve is still where he was left by Will when the boy leans in and whispers to Billy, “I know, Billy, please, please don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Please.”

Billy knows now that he was right. Will is like him, and that thought scared him more than his father ever could. And now it all makes sense. Will’s father had found out, or at least suspected, and that’s why Will is all bloody.

“Shit, kid, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so, sorry.” He has the strong urge to cry when Will pulls away and smiles sadly, like he’s already accepted his fate. This is what makes Billy start to cry. He knows Seve notices, all the lights in the car plus Will’s bright-ass flashlight are on, and when Billy does cry, it's noticeable. “Don’t look like that.”

“Like what?”

“LIke you’ve already, accepted death or something. Don’t act like you’re gonna die, Will, you won’t. I’ll make sure you won’t.”

Will smiles like that again and gets up. “You won’t be able to protect me forever. If I accept it now, it won’t be such a shock later.” He closes the door and walks over to Steve, says something Billy can’t hear, and now they’re both in the car, silent. Billy hates silent. He taps his fingers and waits for someone to tell him what to do because he can’t think right now, not after what the kid told him. 

“Billy?” There is a soft voice to his right, and it sounds almost as if it’s scared it’s going to wake something. Billy looks over and blinks a few times. He hums, telling Steve to continue. “You know that diner, you tke the next exit and it’s like, right there?” Another hum form Billy. “Go there.” and there is a smile, different from Will’s and it makes his stomach flip weird and he hates the way it makes him feel. 

He wants it to happen again.

He looks back to the kid, and Will looks at him like he knows exactly what he’s thinking. This worries Billy. “Seatbelt, shitface.”

Steve hits him. “Billy! Be. Nice.” he hisses at him. There is a beat, and then laughter fills the Camaro.


	2. The Diner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve, Billy, and Will get to the diner right off the exit to get Will some food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter sorta entertains you? I don't think there will be as many typos because i did try to proofread it, but i'm really tired so I don't know how good i am at editing rn. OH ALSO I WILL NOT BE POSTING EVERY DAY! I just have a lot of motivation at the moment!

They arrive at the diner 10 minutes later, around 11 o’clock. Billy thinks that maybe the workers at the diner might question why Will is limping, why he has a black eye.But they just stare at him for a second, seem to notice Billy, and look away. They sit in an overstuffed booth in the corner, Will and Billy on one side and Steve on the other. Billy’s not hungry, and Steve isn’t either, but Will looks like he could eat an elephant if he was offered it, so they tell him to order whatever he wants--which happens to be 4 chocolate pancakes, a side of homefries, 4 strips of bacon, and a side of chocolate milk--and they would split the bill in half. 

The waitress comes over and smiles at them. She has brown hair and looks about 18. Honestly, Billy thinks she looks like the type of person he’d get high with in California. She asks what they want, and touches Billy’s arm, dragging it up to his shoulder. He thinks he’s going to throw up on her to-yellow shoes. Steve seems to find her pretty, though, he’s staring at her like she just took off her shirt. That though gets to him, and he stands up saying something along the lines of “I think I left my wallet in the car.”

He walks too quickly for a few steps and seems to realize it, so he slows down, going back to his calm demeanor. You're fine, Billy. Jesus Christ, just chill out. AGAIN, save it for your therapist, you’re here for Will. He unlocks his car, and opens it on Steve’s side. He goes through the glove compartment, and finds the pack of cigarettes he stole from some lower classman a few weeks ago. He takes one out and lights it, letting the smoke hit the back of his throat before breathing it out, the taste bitter but typical. He remembers the taste, missed it, even though he told himself that he didn’t. Max had tried them for a bit and didn’t like them. She tried to get him to quit, or at least slow down, because he used to have 6 or 7 a day. Now it’s only 2 or 3 a week. Max seems to be okay with that, though, so he makes sure he keeps it to 3 a week maximum.

He looks over at the diner and sees the door open, and someone is walking towards him. He looks away, they’re probably just some worker going home. But then he feels the weight of the car shift, and he’s about to yell, but he looks over and sees who it is. Fuck.

“What do you want, pretty boy?” 

“Will went to the bathroom, and you were gone too long, so I came to check on you. Though, you seem to be doing just-” he looks over at Billy and rolls his eyes. He pulls the cigarette from where it rests in the blonde’s hand and brings it up to his lips, taking a drag. “Fine.” He wheezes out the last part, coughing a few times before taking a smaller hit this time.

“Don’t smoke, Harrington?”

“Not really. Only when I get really stressed, and even if I do think about it, I’m usually too drunk to break into my dad’s end table.”

Billy lets out a laugh and takes it from Steve’s hand. He finishes it and stomps it. He looks back through the car’s windshield, debating on whether or not he should get another one. He’s about to get up to grab it when Steve says, “What did Will say when he whispered to you earlier?”

Billy coughs. How the HELL is he going to answer without outing himself; or, worse, without outing Will. Sure, he’s a good liar, but he normally has time to come up with a lie that will work on his father. He has time to think while driving back to Neil’s house--never home. Home is California--but now Harington is looking at him with those stupid bambi eyes and his stomach is doing that weird thing again and he’s just realized how quite it is and his fingers itch to hold a cigarette between them. “Ask him yourself.” 

They’re back at the table now, and Will is eating so quickly that Billy is worried he’s going to choke. Or puke. “Jesus, kid. You act like the asshole didn’t feed you,” he scoffs. 

“He didn’t. Well, he did but it was mostly chicken, fish, and beef, and I don’t eat meat.”

Billy wanted to point out that he was eating bacon right now, but Steve kicked him under the table. Byers must’ve heard Billy’s sharp intake of breath or Steve’s small laugh as Billy kicked back, because he says, “Well, I do eat meat, but mostly just pig. And if I do eat other meat I only like the way Mom makes it,” he states through mouthfuls of food while Steve and Billy play footsie under the table.

“Will, don’t talk with your mouthful,” Steve says like the mother figure he is.

“Yeah, WILL, that’s RUDE,” Billy laughs out, stealing a piece of bacon from his plate.

“Hey!”

“Billy, give him back his food.”

“What are you gonna do if I don’t, Harrington?” Billy asks, leaning in and taking a bite of the bacon. He’s testing Steve, seeing what he’ll say. Maybe he’s like Bowie or something. Maybe he likes both.

But Steve just stares at him for a second before rolling his eyes, taking the bacon and finishing it.

“Steve!” 

Billy starts laughing.

“Shhhh, Will it’s 11:30 at night, lower your voice.”

“Steve. Shut the fuck up,” Will deadpans.

Billy is nearly on the floor now, sitting on the edge of the seat, bent over laughing. “Goddamn it pretty boy,” he manages to get out, “the boy really told you.”

“You can shut your mouth, Hargrove, it wasn’t even that funny,” Steve huffs out, crossing his arms.

“Aw, did I make pretty boy sad?” Billy pouts, looking toward Steve, his laughter finally controlled.

“Also I am NOT a boy, i’m like, almost 15,” Will points out, finishing up his food.

“Whatever, kid; are you almost finished your food, Harrington over here looks a little tired and we still have to take you to his place to clean you up before we drive you back home.”

“I don’t want to go home!” Will shouts out quickly, he looks like he’s about to panic. “I can’t, I can’t worry mom and Jonathan was supposed to go out with Nancy tomorrow and I don’t want to ruin that for him and-”

The kids is spiralling, which, Billy knows, will lead to a panic attack, which is the last thing Will needs right now; especially with his swollen eye. 

“Hey, hey, hey, kid, it’s okay, we don’t have to go to your house tonight, we can go tomorrow okay?” Billy is kneeling on the ground in front of the booth, and WIll is at the edge where Hargrove used to be. “You’re okay, you understand? You’re okay, just try and level out your breathing. We aren’t going to make you do anything you don’t want to do, okay? You can stay at Steve tonight’s if you want. Or we can drop you off at Mike’s,” Will was getting better, but at the mention of Mike’s name, he starts to hyperventilate again. “No, no Mike.”

“Okay, that’s fine. No Mike. Who’s Mike? I just need you to try and level out your breathing again. You were doing so well. I really don’t want you to start crying, it’ll hurt like a bitch. Please, come on WIll, I know you can do it.” Will’s breathing starts to level again, and he wipes away the few tears that did fall, and he whimpers a bit in pain. 

“Good job, kid. I told you you could do it.” Billy is smiling at him again, and he glances at Steve, and he’s looking at the two of them, surprised, but also looks a little? Proud? Billy can’t quite tell what the other look is, but he thinks he’s staring for too long, because Will nudges him with his knee lightly, and when he looks at him, Will just smirks knowingly. Again. So maybe the kid does know, Billy thinks to himself. He lets out a little laugh and stands up. 

Steve had paid for all of Will’s food--even though Billy tried to convince him that he could pay for half of the food--and now they were in the parking lot, and Billy was searching for his keys.

“Wanna drive, Harrington?”

Steve looks at him doubtfully, as if he expects Billy to tell him that he’s joking and that no one is allowed to drive his car, but Billy is just holding out the keys to him, and he looks completely serious. If Steve was being completely honest, he had really missed driving, but Billy was already doing more than he needed to by picking Steve up for school, and he didn’t want to push his luck, winding up with no ride to school. But Billy had suggested that he drive, and it would be rude to turn someone down who was offering so kindly. “Yeah okay, Blondie.”

Billy fakes a gag. “Don’t call me that ever again.” He walks to the other side of the car and opens the door as Steve unlocks it. 

“What? Blondie? You don’t like it?” Steve asks insincerely, he buckles his seat belt and turns around, “Put your seatbelt on, Will,” He looks at Billy, “You too, Blondie.” He turns and starts the Camaro, and as he pulls out of the parking lot and gets back on the highway, Should I Stay or Should I go starts to play through the speakers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah as I said before, I probably won' be posting every day, but I hope to post frequent enough. Thanks for reading? Tata for now? I don't know what I'm supposed to put here.


	3. The Hallway (chapter three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> y'all don't get a chapter summary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just me wanting to write sorta cute stuff uhm. It's not like,,,, good,,,, but ykhow it issss.

They arrive at the Harrington residence about 20 minutes later, and Will looks like he might pass out before they--well, Steve, Billy barely knows how to properly put on a bandaid; that was what Max was for--patched up his cuts and bruises. They are almost to the front door when elbows billy in the shoulder. 

“Hey, that was, uhm, that was cool. The whole thing you did with Will. I probably would’ve started freaking out. I’m sorta bad with panic after the,” he stops himself, but Billy. Knows what he was gonna say. After the Upside Down. “I know that doesn’t make sense, i mean like, I should be better at handling it after but I just can’t and if you weren’t there and Will had started to spiral like that I wouldn’t have known what to do-”

“Harrington.” Billy says his name firmly, trying to shut him up. As much as he hates the quiet, he’d rather have to sit in silence for the rest of his life than have to listen to Steve tell him how he’s some sort of hero. Because he’s not. And he knows that if he hadn’t saved the kids, if he wasn’t presumed dead, Steve would even be talking to him. Steve would still hate him. The thought makes him want to cry again. The fact that he even wants to cry pisses him off, and he huffs out a laugh that sounds just as fake as it is when he says, “it was nothing. The kid was having a hard time. Nothing I haven’t dealt with myself. I just told him what I would tell myself, alright? Stop acting like I just offered to carry the world on my shoulders or something.”

“Okay not to be like, a pussy or anything, but I’m about to pass out on your doorstep, so can you please give me the keys or something?” They hear Will say from where he stands leaning against the doorframe.

“Shit, yeah, sorry Will,” Steve rushes up the steps and opens the door for Will. Billy is still standing on the lawn, feeling awkward and out of place.

“Well, uhm, I guess I should get going. Max is probably throwing a fit,” he knows that’s a lie, Max is spending the night at El’s house. 

Steve looks at him like he just said he was going to eat his “What are you talking about? You’re staying over. You can call Max if you want.” Oh.

OH, 

Steve was telling him to stay. He wants him to stay. And how can Billy say no when he’s looking at him like that, his big bambi eyes soft now, a little smile tugging at the edge of his lips. So, Billy just huffs lightly and walks into the house.

Will is sitting on Steve’s bathroom countertop. Billy is sitting on the toilet, picking at his fingers, wondering if he should just get up and leave before Steve comes back. He’s about to get up; about to tell Will that he has to go and rush down the stairs, grabbing his keys and driving off, when Steve comes back with the medical kit. 

“Okay, so before I get started, I need you to take off your shirt. Oh, and you need to change into,” he throws a pair of shorts at Will, “these.”

Will stares at the shorts for a second, and glances up at Steve. “Oh, yeah, uh, we can leave if you want,” Steve walks out of the bathroom, but when he realizes that Billy isn’t with him. He turns back and says, “You coming, Hargrove?”

A few seconds later, Billy is out of the bathroom, closing the door, and sliding down the wall next to it. He looks up at Steve and smiles slightly. “It might take him a bit longer, it depends on the severity. Or if he wants to look at them. Make sure to not rush him, he’s been through a shit ton tonight.”

Steve stares down at him, and that look, that same look from the diner after he had calmed Will down, is back. He slides down the wall next to Billy, maybe a little too close to him--their shoulders are touching--but Billy isn’t going to say anything. Steve lets out a little hum. “Will’s too forgiving. I’m scared that in a few months he’s going to forget all about this and it’ll happen again. I don’t think I’d know what to do if this happens again. What if you aren’t here, what if I don’t have a car, what if I’m not able to pick him up, what if he doesn’t call in time, what if I don’t get there in time.” 

Billy turns a bit, and Steve falls a little, before readjusting himself so that all of his eight is no longer on Billy. “Steve, hey, look at me,” when he doesn’t, Billy lifts his hand a bit, contemplating, before putting it on Steve’s thigh. “Pretty boy, I need you to look at me.” 

Billy’s hand on Steve’s thigh, the pet name, and the soft voice makes Steve’s heart jump. It almost reminds him of what he felt like with Nancy, but that wouldn’t make sense. Steve knows that he might like guys, he has since he was ten, which is when he started to notice that he was staring at Josh Robinson--one of his old friends who moved after a year--more then he should’ve. He had hated himself for it for a while, but it’s been eight years, and he had learned that maybe he wasn’t alone at fifteen, when he heard Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy for the first time. BUT, that does not mean he would like Billy Hargrove. I mean yeah, he had gotten much nicer, but that doesn’t mean that he would automatically be attracted to him. Right?

BIlly taps his thigh lightly, and that’s when he notices that he’s zoned out. He looks over at Billy, and a hand goes to his face, a thumb moving across his cheek, and he realizes that it’s brushing away tears.

“Come on, pretty boy, we all know that if anything were to happen to The Party, you would drop everything to help them,” he moves his thumb again, and Steve feels something move on his thigh. His eyes move down and he sees that Billy is rubbing circles with his thumb.

“I-” he shuts his mouth. He was going to say “I would drop everything for you, too”. He looks back up, and Billy is staring at him. Waiting. Steve closes his eyes. He breaths in. Out. Again. He opens his eyes, looking directly into Billy’s and seems to think fuck it. He brings his hands up to the sides of Billy’s face, pulling him close so that their foreheads rest on each other. He smiles slightly and whispers, “I would drop everything for you, too.” 

The bathroom door opens and they pull away. “Okay, you can patch me up or whatever,” Will looks down and seems to notice their breathing, and how they look like they were just thrown into a wall. “Did I interrupt something or…?” 

“No.”

“What would you have even interrupted?”

Will stares at them, rolls his eyes, and just walks back into the bathroom. “I’m to drained for this. Just come and fix me and shit.”

“Language, Will!” Steve yells, standing.

“Jesus, Steve, I got stuck int he Upside Down and defeated a fuck tone of monsters! I think you can let me say shit!”

Billy and Steve laugh, and Harrington holds out his hand. Billy takes it quickly, pulls himself up, and they walk into the bathroom.

Will is all patched up, and Steve has decided that now is a good time to take a shower. He told Will that he can stay in the guest room and Billy can stay in his parents bed, and then rushed off, towel and pajamas in hand, to the bathroom.

He stands and waits for Billy near the door of the guest bedroom bathroom, because the one rule was that they couldn’t use Steve’s parent bathroom. Billy finally comes into the room, with a toothbrush package in his hand. “Who the fuck just keeps extr toothbrushes int ehir house?”

“Rich people, I guess.”

Billy snorts and walks into the bathroom. They brush their teeth, and Billy splashes water at Will, and they wind up getting into a water fight. Billy finds a bar of soap, figures that it's the best he’s gonna get if he wants to wash his face, and quickly does so. He offers it to Will, but he just smiles and says “Nah, my skin is naturally clear,” in a mocking tone. Billy hits him on the head lightly. 

Billy starts to walk out of the room while WIll wraps himself in the 12 blankets on top of the bed. “Wait, Billy!”

“Yeah, kid?”

“Close the door for a second.”

Billy looks confused, but shuts it nonetheless.

“You know when Steve was staring at you at the Diner after you helped calm me down?”

“He was staring at both of us, but yeh, I do. Why?”

“No, he was definitely only staring at you.”

Bily laughs tightly. This is the last thing he needs to be told right now, his mind is already fucked up from what happened in the hallway 20 minutes ago. “Whatever you say, kid. It’s too late to argue with you.”

“He was!”

“And how do you know?” Billy can feel himself start to get annoyed.

“Because he was looking at you the same way Robin looks at Heather.”

This is a blow to the stomach. Billy stares at the kid, barely even knows how to process that information. Robin and Heather were MaDly iN LovE, but only him, Steve, and the rest of The Party knew about it. Perks of living in a small town. But that doesn’t make any sense. Why would Will compare Robin and Heather to Him and Steve? 

“What is that supposed to mean, Will?”

“I’m just saying. Maybe he’s like us.”

“Yeah, and maybe I’m the fucking easter bunny. Come on, WIll, be serious.”

“I'm just telling you what I saw!”

“Goodnight, WIll.”

Wll sighs, and he looks sad. Really fucking sad. “Goodnight, Billy.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: PANIC ATTACK  
> I kinda live for like,,,,mean angry person being lowkey soft for like,, three people. So here is Billy being to soft for his character but whatever. Enjoy i suppose

He’s screaming now. He’s running and it doesn’t feel real. He’s back in the mall and there’s The Party. They don’t see him and he tries to stop but he’s moving too quickly and nothing feels real. He walks over to them and they finally see him and their screaming, yelling, running. He’s trying so hard he can’t stop and he grabs her, hard. He spins her around and picks her up by the throat and she’s struggling and he can hear Max yelling his name. He looks over at them and can see the fear in their eyes and he looks at El again and she looks so, so, so scared. And he’s trying to let go. He’s screaming and his other hand is trying to get him to let go and he probably looks insane. “No. Not again. Nononononononono stop stop stop shit fUCK,” he doesn’t register that’s he’s speaking but he knows that it’s his voice. The Party is screaming, why aren’t they trying to stop him. Please please stop him. And he screams and he let’s go of her and he’s sobbing and she’s gasping for breath and still, it doesn’t feel real. He looks over at the party, he looks over at Max, and she looks terrorfied. Of him. She’s scared of him. They’re all scared of him. His hand goes to his neck. He reaches for his mother's necklace, and takes it off. Max is looking at him and they are all so scared to move but she sees what he’s doing and steps forward. “Billy, what are you doing?”

“I’m so sorry, shitbird.” he drops the necklace and gets up and they are yelling at him and he starts to walk out but he falls to the ground. It’s not done with him yet. It needs him. He’s sobbing and now everything feels real. He looks up and he’s there. He looks at Billy and looks disgusted and the nail-bat is in his hand, all he has to do is swing it and Billy would be dead. But he’s shaking and he doesn’t swing. He just stares at him. “Do it. Kill me.” Steve's expression changes. It’s the same look The Party gave him. They’re all scared of him. They should be, but it still disgusts him. He’s repulsed by himself. “Please, Harrington, just fucking do it. Do it. DO IT! SWING THE FUCKING BAT!” And his voice breaks at the end as he lets out a sob. Steve blinks and just nods at him. He’s lifting the bat and staring at Billy and Billy is staring back. Steve swings the bat and-

Billy wakes up screaming and thrashing around in a bed that he knows isn’t his. He doesn’ know where he is and it’s to dark and he’s screaming and now he’s crying. He lets out a choked “I’m sorry”’s even though no one is there. The door slams open and he screams again, trying to stand, but his legs are shaking too much and he’s scared that they’ll buckle. The light in the room turns on, and it stings for a few seconds before his eyes adjust.

“What the fuck, Hargrove? It’s like 3 in the mor-” Steve looks at Billy and realizes what’s happening. “Shit, fuck, hey, hey, hey, you’re okay. Shit I- It’s okay just breath, do you want me to leave or get water or go wake up WIll, he probably didn’t hear you, the rooms are pretty far apart and he’s kind of a heavy sleeper,” Steve runs over to Billy and his breathing is rushed and he’s stimming a bit, Billy wouldn’t have noticed if his brain wasn’t on hyper alert. 

Steve reaches out to touch him but Bily slaps him away, “Don’t! Don’t fucking- I can’t- I don’t want to- I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry-” and now loud, heavy sobs are racking through his body as he tries to talk, and at some point he gives up and lets himself cry. He tries to breath through it, tries to come down from his panic attack, and he knows Steve has been there for a few minutes and he kind of really wants a hug but he said that he doesn’t want to be touched. Steve seems to notice something, so slowly, he sits on the bed and lifts his hand and rests it on his back, rubbing it in slow circles, just waiting for Billy to be okay.

His sobs have lightened and his breathing is starting to level now, and he feels like he’s been here for ages, like Steve has been waiting for him for forever, but he knows it’s probably been no longer than 10 minutes. 

“We gotta stop meeting like this,” Steve laughs slightly.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For waking you up, for beating the shit out of you, for being a bitch, for being an ass towards Lucas, for being an ass towards The Party all together, for trying to kill you guys. For forcing you guys to forgive me. Just, for everything.”

“Billy, baby, We forgive you. How many times do we have to say it? It was so long ago, and Lucas and the rest of The Party saw that you were trying to change and took their own time forgiving you. You didn’t force anything out of us. You’re a good person now, Billy. We all see it, and we all see how much you hate how you were, Trust me, if The Party didn’t forgive you, you would know, okay? And if I didn’t forgive you, I wouldn’t have called you to come pick me up from school a few months ago. We like you Billy, please understand that.”

Billy looks over at Steve and smiles. “Did you just call me baby?”

“No.” Steve sas quickly. ‘I said ‘Billy, we forgive you.’”

“No no no, you said ‘Billy, baby, we forgive you.’”

“No I didn’t, you need your ears checked or something, Hargrove,” Steve rolls his eyes, but Billy can see that his face is red. Harrington lifts his hand from where it was resting on Billy’s back.

The end of Billy’s lips lift. He lifts his hand and moves Steve’s face with his pointer finger, making him look at him. “If I didn’t know any better, i’d say you have the hots for me, Harrington.”

“I-”

“I mean, with what you pulled in the hallway a few hours ago, and with you going all red when I asked if you called me baby, and of course my charm and beautiful personality-”

“Less than 10 minutes ago you were apologizing for being a horrible person and now you’re saying that you are amazing? Make up your mind,” Steve tries to sound annoyed, or at least try and make it sound like he wasn’t completely wrapped around Billy’s finger, but considering the small chuckle Billy lets out, Harrington is pretty sure he failed.

“I might actually think that you do have a crush on me, if you weren’t so obsessed with Nancy,” Billy’s moved closer, just a little, and Steve can feel his breath. It makes him want to scream.

“I haven’t liked Nancy in months.” God fucking danmit , Steve. He was giving you a way out you idiot, why the fuck didn’t you take it? He says it too quickly. He says it like he wants Billy to think that he’s completely free, that he could like Billy. Which, okay, maybe a part of him does want Billy to think that, but he sure as fuck won’t admit it. Because it was the fucking 80’s and they live in Hawkins of all places, and would probably get killed if they walked to close to each other.

Billy lets out a hum and his eyes flick down for a few seconds, before meeting Steve’s eyes again. “Do you like anyone, Harrington?”

“I uh, I, uhm, I maybe, uh, maybe,” Seve keeps talking, and it sounds like his brain has short circuited. Billy’s pointer finger is still resting on his lower jaw, and now his eyes are traveling down to Harrington’s lips again, and Steve understands this time. “Oh.”

“‘Oh’ what, Harrington?” Billy’s eyes are back to his eyes, and his head is slightly tilted, and it’d be so, so easy to just lean forward and-

No. Shut the fuck up, Harrington. Pull yourself together. You are not kissing fucking BiLlY HaRgRoVe. There is like, a 90% chance that he doesn’t like you and is just playing with you. Also yeah, maybe you do actually like him. And yeah, maybe you were going to kiss him in the hallway before Will showed up. And YEAH, you guys are pretty close right now and he’s not pulling away and he looks serious, but that does nOT mean that you are going to-

Billy’s mouth is on his. It’s quick and his head is at a weird angle so his nose is pressing a little too hard against Steve’s cheek, and before Steve can react, it’s gone. 

“You were thinking to hard, Harrington, I thought maybe that would work, I’m sorry-”

And now it’s Steve’s turn to kiss him. Steve’s hands are in Billy’s hair because jesus christ his curls are fucking insane, and Billy’s hands move to his waist. It started fast and hard, but now it’s soft and calming and Steve doesn't want to stop, so he moves slightly closer to Billy, but it’s weird because Billy is sitting cross cross in the bed and Steve’s legs are dangling off the end of it, so he actually winds up breaking the kiss instead. 

Steve lets out a huff of a laugh and lets his forehead rest on Billy’s. “Hey.”

“Will is going to freak when he hears about this.”

Steve pulls back and fakes a gag. “Ugch, don’t talk about the kids after we kiss, that’s fucking weird, man.”

“Noted.” Billy pulls Steve back in. He doesn’t kiss him; he closes his eyes and lets a smile rest on his face.

“Why would he even care, anyways?”

Billy hums. “S’not important right now. I’m tired as shit, are you staying in here or going back?”

“You want me to stay with you, Hargrove?”

“I’ll probably be shitty in the morning, but i’m on the verge of passing out, so just turn off the light and come back,” it would almost sound like he was whining, if his voice wasn’t so hoarse from screaming. 

He lays back down as Steve gets up. The light flicks off and Billy lets out a shaky breath before feeling the bed shift as Steve lays down. Billy shifts so that he’s looking at the ceiling, and his eyes shift from the lighting fixture to Steve as they adjust to the dark. His pride is telling him to deal with the fact that he can barely feel Steve’s presence, and that he does NOT, in fact, want to move closer to Steve, but there was a part of him that wanted to lay his head on Steve’s chest and listen to his heartbeat as he fell asleep. But he’s not going to admit it. Nope, absolutely not. He had already initiated the kiss, and he didn’t even know where they stood. He didn’t know if asking was stepping over a line.

“Hey, Billy?”

“How may I be of your assistance, pretty boy?”

“Don’t punch me for this. Tell me if you’re uncomfortable.”

Billy scoffed, trying to cover his panic with a calm demenor. “Whatever you say.”

Steve hesitates for a second before moving closer to Billy. “This okay?” Billy hums. “Bill,s can you sit up for a sec?”

“Why,” and now he’s definitely whining, but he can hardly keep his eyes open and doesn’t quite know if he’d even be capable of moving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI. I know that the scene at the beginning and stuff isn't completely accurate but its a nightmare so it's more of his brain mashing a bunch of what happened together.


	5. Billy and The Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW// HOMOPHOBIC LANGUAGE & CHILD ABUSE  
> also there is a slight tad of what my internalized homophobia feels like sometimes so 💅🙈

When Steve wakes up the next morning, Billy isn’t there. He blinks again and finally notices that he’s in his parents bedroom. Fuck, so that actually did happen. Steve yawns and gets out of bed, walking downstairs. He lets out a small sigh of relief when he hears music coming from the kitchen, set to some station no one ever listens to. Steve walks in, only to see Will, sitting on one of the bar stools at the island, reading a book he probably stole from the study, and Billy looking through the fridge. 

Billy stands upright and looks at Steve, a small smile filled with too much emotion for this early in the morning on his lips. Steve smiles back and sits on the stool next to WIll.

“What the fuck do you eat here? You have bread,” Billy pulls the bread from the top of the fridge only to see mold growing from it. “Scratch that.” Will laughs. “You have milk, beer, an overabundance of chocolate covered pretzels, and stale fruit loops.”

Steve huffs and sticks out his tongue when Will sends a captious look his way. “Fuck off, I never eat breakfast, and i usually just order something for dinner. My parents are never home and I don’t know how to cook anything other than instant noodles,” Steve shrugs and gets up, grabbing the chocolate covered pretzels from the cupboard. “Also, this is a perfectly reasonable amount of chocolate covered pretzels.”

“Whatever you say, pretty boy.” Billy rolls his eyes, but takes a handful of the pretzels anyways. Will gives him a pointed look from over the book.Billy glares back. “You can shut your mouth, pipsqueak.”

“Hey, fuck off, i’m like 5 foot 5, asshole,” Will spits back, closing the book and shifting so that he’s looking at Steve; he stares at him, eyes not leaving even when Steve starts to squirm.

Steve shifts in his seat again, and looks at Billy. “Okay, what the fuck did you say to him? I feel like I’m about to get the shovel talk of some shit.”

Billy snorts, looks at Will, and points his finger at WIll while eating another handful of the pretzels. “Asshole,” he says, a little bit of pretzel flies out of his mouth and into Steve’s hair. Steve swats it out and gives him a disgusted look. Billy just smiles. “Stop it.” Billy says to Will. He turns away and starts opening cabinets, looking for a cup. He finds one, it’s light blue and glass; he throws it up in the air and catches it, laughing when Steve gasps. “Also, what the fuck is a shovel talk?”

Steve looks at him like he’s crazy. “You know, like when you meet the parents for the first time and the dad sits you down to have a little chat, but it just turns out to be him telling you that if you ever break his daughter’s heart, he’ll break your face.”

“I’m sorry. What?” 

“Have you never had a girlfriend or something before?” Steve only added the or something because after last night, he had no idea what the fuck Billy had had in California.

“No, I’ve never had a girlfriend before, fucking faggot remeber?” Billy says, and then freezes. He looks at Will, and then at Steve, and his hand goes to the Virgin Mary necklace, twisting it. He looks anxious, and he shouldn’t be, because they are all in almost the same boat, but knowing that doesn’t help to calm him down. “Neither of you heard that, understand? I don’t care if you both know, everything I say in this house, stays in this fucking house. That means no blabbing to your fucking Party, got it?” 

Will looks confused, but Steve looks like he understands. He gets up, slowly, like he doesn’t want to scare him, and walks over to Billy. He still looks anxious, his eyes darting to the window facing the forest, but then Steve puts his hand on his cheek, his thumb moving right to left, and everything seems to leave him, and, slowly, his eyes start to close. 

“It’s gonna be okay, Bills, I promise, nothing is going to happen,” Steve smiles slightly, and Billy knows it’s a lie, knows what’s going to happen to him once he drops Will off and goes back to that place, knows that Neil is up already, that Neil KNOWS he’s not in his room. But Steve is looking at him like that and Will doesn’t need to be back food a little bit, so he lets himself believe Steve’s words.

Billy meant to come back earlier. He really did. But Steve had asked if they could go to the store and Will had wanted to come, too, so instead of getting to Neil’s house at 10 like he had planned, he got there a little past noon. He’s in the same clothes he was wearing yesterday and his hair isn’t as nice as it normally is, which no one would notice. Except for Neil.

“Where the fuck were you?”

Billy had planned this out. He always has it planned out. He’d be dead by now if he didn’t. “A girl I know called me. Her car broke down in Indianapolis, she didn’t know what to do, and needed me to come pick her up. I tried to fix the car but it was too dark to see what was wrong so we called a company to come drive it to a shop. I drove her back home and she offered me her couch because it was late.” Good. Nice, helpful, straight Billy. Perfect for Neil.

“I didn’t hear the phone ring.” Neil starts to stand, and he’s wobbly.

Jesus, it’s only noon and he’s already drunk. 

“I was already downstairs. It barely rang before I answered it.”

Neil is standing, pushing empty beer bottles out of the way with his feet as he walks towards Billy, who’s still standing at the front door. “Why were you downstairs.”

“I was getting water.”

“There wasn’t a water bottle in your room.”

“I had taken it with me.”

“And why did you come home so fucking late?”

He’s in front of Billy, and he’s only a few inches taller than Billy, but it still makes him want to hide. He’s weak, and he knows it. Neil grabs him by the front of his shirt and pushes him against the door. His side grazes the handle, and he lets out a hiss of pain as his body slams into the wood. Neil reeks of alcohol, the cheap kind he buys too much of and finishes to quickly. The kind Billy refuses to drink. The kind Tammy Thompsan had been drinking before she had kissed him a few months prior, before he pushed her off and walked out, leading her to hit him that following Monday at school. It didn’t hurt, he’d gone through worse on Neil’s good days.

He’s taken too long to answer apparently, because Neil lifts him off of the door, only to push the small of his back into the handle. Hard. He lets out a cry, but Neil doesn’t care. Never has. His mouth is right next to Billy’s ear. He whispers, as if there’s someone around to hear, “Maybe, you were out being a fag.”

Billy knew it was coming. But his blood still runs cold. “N-no sir. Her car was getting fixed and it had taken longer than expected. I’m sorry sir I should have called. It slipped my mind.”

Neil grabs him and throws him towards the stairs, his head hits the banister, right at his jaw. He can’t even scream before Neil is kicking him in the stomach. “You never fucking think of anyone else but yourself. You’re a fucking selfish faggot, you know that?” Neil pulls Billy up by his hair. He looks at Billy, jaw cut open and bleeding. Billy’s crying, which always means the beating is going to be worse. Neil normally doesn’t go for the face, but Billy’s face is already fucked, so he punches him. It seems like he was going for the nose, but misses and winds up hitting Billy in the eye. There's another scream of pain before the back of Billy’s head hits the stairs and the blows to the stomach start again.

He doesn’t know how long the beating lasts, but he knows that he’s nearly lost consciousness as Neil grabs him by his hair again. “Since you want to spend all fucking day out of the house, you are going to go and pick up your sister and her fucking friends and take them all out for dinner. Drive them around. Be fucking respnsible. She’s fucking better than you, fag. SHE deserves it.” He lets Billy go and walks back to his chair. Billy’s crying, but he grabs his shoes he’ll put them on in the car, and walks out of the house.

He gets into his car. 12:14. He vaguely remembers Will saying something about The Party going to the arcade at 12:30, and that they were all meeting at Mike’s house. He didn’t sound like he really wanted to go, but he still made Billy drop him off at Dustin’s a half an hour earlier.

He drives off.

Billy knows that the kids don’t particularly like him. Will and Max don’t have a problem with him, and El has warmed up to him, but the other three. Well, let’s just say that Steve was lying about them forgiving him. So when he pulled up next to Steve’s beemer at 12:21, they were less than happy about it. He knows he looks like shit, knows that his jaw is still bleeding and that his eye is most likely starting to puff up, but he’d be damned if he doesn’t listen to Neil today.

Karen Wheeler answers the door. He smiles at her, disregarding her questions and walks downstairs. He can hear Henderson and Sinclair fighting about something he doesn’t care about,and Will is trying to defuse the situation.No one notices him for a few moments until Max looks up from where she’s sitting with El.

“”Billy? What the hell are you doing here? Neil knows I’m supposed to be out with friends today.” She stops when she sees his face clearly. “What the fuck-”

“Holy shit!” That was Steve. He walks up to Billy, but he just gives him a small smile and a shrug before sitting on the stairs and playing with his lighter.

“Okay assholes, I’ve been told that I’m playing babysitter #2 for the day, so you can decide which car you want to ride in.” They are all looking at him now, he looks up and towards Will, who looks like he wants to say something, towards Mike, Dustin, and Lucas who look like they can’t decide if they want to kill him or ask what the hell happened, towards El, who looks sad, but seems like she might understand. Fuck. Up at Steve, who looks terrified; terrified FOR him, not because of him, Billy has to remind himself. And finally, he looks at Max, who looks like she knows. Looks sad and angry and like she wants to yell at him, like she wants to hit something, like she wants to ask why it happened this time. He gives her a look before pulling out a cigarette. That seems to snap the three boys out of whatever trance they were in.

“There’s no smoking in here, dickwad.” Mike barks.

“What the fuck are you doing here? Why the fuck is your face punched in? What the fuck do you mean you’re ‘babysitter #2’? Steve why the fuck do you look like you actually care about this, this CUNT?” Dustin spits out the last word as Billy puts the cigarette back.

“Dustin! He’s not a fucking cunt you bitch-” Max starts to say before Billy cuts he off.

“Calm down, Curly, I’m not going to fucking kill you are some shit. I’ve been told I have to watch over Max, which in turn means I have to watch over you shitbirds.”

“What about your face? Did you get into another bar fight or something?” Lucas says to him.

“You want to check my knuckles, Sinclair? No, I didn’t get into a bar fight, Jesus I have class you know,” it wasn’t like he wasn’t answering the questions. But the last thing he needs right now is a bunch of 14 year olds finding out about his shitty father.

“Was it your papa? Hop says that he thinks your papa is a bad man.”

Billy’s head snaps to El. He sees that Max, Will, and Steve are also staring at him. The others are looking at him like he’s some dog shit they just stepped in. “I- what?”

“El! You can’t just, you can’t just say shit like that! Especially not with the-” Max stops herself, but Lucas, Dustin, and Mike heard her.

“Especially with who here, Max? Can I remind you guys that this is MY basement that this asshat took over? He shouldn’t even be here right now, and because of him we’re going to be late to the arcade and all the good games are going to be gone.”

“They’re GAMES, Michael. They aren’t going anywhere. And he didn’t take over shit. It’s not his fault that whatever happened to him happened.”

“How do you know that, Max? He’s a dick. Whatever he did that caused that was probably his fault. I mean come on, look at him,” Dustin shoots back.

Max walks closer to the boys, but no one seems to notice.

“Dustin! What the fuck is wrong with you?” That wasn’t Max. Billy looks over and sees Will glaring at Dustin.

“Well, I mean, is he wrong? Hargrove is a grade A asshole, I wouldn’t be surprised-”

Max slaps Mike. 

“WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT WAS THAT FOR MAX!”

“You’re being an asshole, Mike!” She yells back. She turns to Dustin and looks like she’s about to fight him, too, but Billy jumps up (which causes a gasp of pain that no one heard besides Steve) and walks over to her.

“Maxine,” he puts a hand on her shoulder, “it’s fine. Really. I don’t need you to fight your friends because of me, okay? And plus, are they even wrong?” Billy whispers the last part, but she hears it.

“Of course they’re wrong! You don’t deserve what he,” she notices that she’s yelling and he can see tears in her eyes. He kneels down in front of her and pulls her into a hug. She starts to cry into his shoulder as she says, “you don’t deserve what he does to you.”

He runs his hands through her hair and shushes her quietly. “It’s okay, Mad Max, it’s okay. I’m safe now, I’m not dead, this time wasn’t even as bad, you know. I promise I'm okay,” he whispers to her. He doesn’t even think about the fact that everyone is watching the two siblings as he sits, bringing her with him. She keeps telling him in between sobs that he doesn’t deserve it. 

Steve walks up to them. “Mad Max,” he says it like it’s a question. She doesn’t respond, but her head moves so that she’s looking at Steve. He smiles at her. “Hey. I know you probably don’t want to do this, but I need you to get off of him so I can, uh, so I can check for any damage and stuff,” Max seems to think about it for a moment before she starts to get off of Billy. Steve's smile widens. He stays where he is while she composes herself, waits until she goes back to El before he moves in front of Billy.

“Pretty boy, I appreciate your concern, but really. I’m fine,” Billy smiles at Steve’s look of disappointment. Billy looks past Steve and at the clock on the wall behind him. “It’s 12;40, the kids are already late for the arcade, come on we have to-” Steve lightly presses his palm to his side. Billy lets out a pained gasp and sees white for a second. Max looks like she’s about to run forward, but El puts an arm on her shoulder and gives her a look, and she falls back onto the couch. “Fucking hell, Harrington!”

“See? You’re not okay. For all I know, you could have internal bruising, or worse, you could have fucking internal BLEEDING and don’t even get me started on jaw! It could be broken or you could’ve cracked the bone which could-”

“STEVE,” Billy yells at him. Steve looks at him and Billy’s expression morphs completely, morphs into an expression that tells the three boys standing only a few feet away too much information about him. About Steve. About them. Whatever that is. “Please.”

“Did you not just see what happened when I touched your stomach? What if something is seriously wrong with it? You need to get to a hospital Billy.”

“Oh okay now all of a sudden they are on a first name basis,” Dustin mutters.

“Dustin. Shut up,” El says, playing with Max’s hair.

“Harrington, this is nothing. I’m fucking fine. I probably just have some bruising. You’ve gotten in fights before King Steve,” he lets out a laugh at the last part and Steve rolls his eyes. “Trust me. I’m going to be fine.”

Steve gives him a stoic look, lips pursed, before getting up and holding his hand out for Billy. “Okay, here’s how this is going to work. Will, Max, and El, you all go with Billy in the Camaro. Dustin, Mike, and Lucas, you come with me. We drop you off at the arcade, and you call my house number when you want to get picked up. We go out, we get food, whatever, everyone goes home, everyone’s happy. No glaring at each other,” he looks at the three boys and everyone knows that he means no glaring at Billy, but no one says it, “no fighting, and try not to spend all of your money at the arcade. Your parents will have my head in a basket. Is everyone cool with that?”

They nod at him. Billy smirks. “Onwards, shitbird 1 through 6.”

“There’s 7 of us, dumbass,” Lucas pipes up. Somehow he seems to think that Billy won’t kill him. He’s not wrong, Billy wouldn’t, but still.

“Oh, I’m not counting Will,” Billy laughs out.

“Hey!” Steve says mock offense at the same time WIll says “Fuck yeah!”.

“Trust me. You get used to it,” Max chimes in, voice finally back to normal, if not a little nasally.

They wind up in their designated cars by 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i PROMISE Robin and Heather are gonna show up soon. i just need a good enough plot point for it


	6. so he’s a bit of a fixer upper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayo i have come back ig uh. i wrote the ending of this at school in my 6th and 7th period classes so. it may or may not be g o o d. oh also uh i don’t ✨edit ever✨ so. still not the owner of this account and i refuse to write smut on something that i don’t exclusively own so go like fuck yourselves or smthn

“Why can’t you just stay hereeeee,” Dustin whines as he gets out of the Beemer. “He says he’s fine, why do you have to go back to your house. You said you’d stay this time. You’re always workinggggg. It’s not fair that stupid Hargrove shows up and takes you away from us,” he’s pouting now, you know, like a brat, and Steve rolls his eyes. 

“He’s hurt, Dustin, I don’t really care if he says he’s fine, I’m not going to let him walk around like that. And it’s not my fault I have a job. You want to blame someone, blame my dad, he’s the one who’s almost completely cut me off.”

“Oh poor pretty boy, he doesn’t have daddy’s money anymore,” Billy mocks, walking up to them, Will, El, and Max behind him. Dustin gives Steve a disgusted look, like Steve’s insane, and Billy scoffs. “Jesus, Curly, you need to get better at hiding your emotions.”

“Oh no, trust me, I’m good at masking my emotions. I want you to know that I don’t like you.”

“Jesus christ- are you fucking three years old or something?”

“Oh fuck-”

“Hey, hey, hey ! What the fuck did I say?” Steve asks, giving Dustin a pointed look.

“Sorry.” 

Steve looks at Billy. “What? I didn’t do anything,” when Steve doesn’t look away, Billy sighs and looks at Dustin. “Sorry, or whatever.”

Mike looks like he wants to say something, but Dustin steps on hsi foot and shakes his head, so he settles for crossing his arms and letting out a huff.

“So are we gonna go orrr?” Will asks from where he stands next to Billy. It’s a weird scene, honestly. Steve, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas on one side, the three kids looking at Billy like he’s some creature that just crawled out of the sewer; Billy, Will, Max, and El on the other side, Max and El talking quietly with each other, ignoring the boys, and Will, who’s eyes keep going from Billy to Mike, trying to decide what to do, trying to find a way to defuse the situation like he always does. 

Lucas finally steps up. “Yeah come on, we should go, the lines for the good games might not be as long now.” The three boys look at Billy one last time before running off into the arcade. 

Will hesitates, eyes following the three boys before going back to Billy. He looks nervous, like he wants to stay outside, but doesn’t want to leave his friends. Billy looks up to the arcade, only to see the three boys staring out of the window. He smiles down at Will. “It’s fine kid. Go have fun or whatever with your friends.”

“But they were jackasses, I feel like I owe you because of-” he cuts himself off, but Billy knows that he was going to say. He kneels down, the same way he did with Max a half hour ago, “kid, in all honesty, I don’t care what a bunch of your 14 year old friends think of me. They have a right to be pissed at me. And you don’t owe me anything because of what happened last night, you understand?” 

Will stares at Billy skeptically, but then he gazes at Max and El, who’ve seemed to notice that the others are in the arcade, and nods his head. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. Let’s go, guys.” Billy smiles at him one more time before he walks with El and Max to the arcade.

“Hey, shitbird!”

Max, who somehow knew that he was talking to her even though he taken to calling all the kids that, looks back. 

“Kick Curly’s ass for me!”

Steve laughs, and she gives him a thumbs up before walking inside. 

“I’m not fucking leaving my car here, Harrington.”

“There is no way I’m going to let you drive with your eye like that, jackass!”

“Oh okay, so you trust me enough to let me drive THREE KIDS to the arcade, but not enough to let me drive to your house? I call bullshit.”

Steve looks down at the ground at that word. It’s been almost two years but it still gets to him sometimes. “Fine. But if you fucking crash I’m not paying for the rrepairs, dickwad.”

“Yee yields such little faith in my driving abilities.I’ve driven with my face in a worse condition on the California highway during rush hour, pretty boy. This is fucking nothing.”

“If I hear you call something nothing one more time, I’ll key your car.”

“Well in the long run, most of this shit is nothing. That’s like, the only thing last summer taught me.”

“Billy, if what I think is happening is actually happening, thats a big fucking deal. You can’t just, like, push it to the side and act like it's not important. You can’t keep acting like what everyone says about you doesn’t affect you in some way, Bills.”

“Can we just,” he pauses. Lets out a breath. “Can we just wait until we get back to your house before we have a shitty talk or whatever?”

“Fine.”

“Great.”

“Good. I’ll uh, I’ll see you there.”

“You got it, pretty boy.”

When Steve gets to his house, Billy is already there. Somehow. He gets up from the front steps as Steve walks to the porch and gives him a smile. “I think your neighbor thought I was going to rob you or something.”

Steve lets out a small laugh. “The old one? Yeah, probably. Her names Mrs. Mckenin; she has to take a shit load of medication just to get the mail every day, and they make her a little,” he pauses, unlocking the door and pushing it open, “loopy.”

Billy snorts before walking inside, and Steve kind of wants to shoot himself, because he should not have found a snort that fucking endearing. He lets out a cough before entering, walking straight to the downstairs bathroom, where he keeps all of the first aid shit. 

He turns around, only to realize that Billy isn’t there. He looks out of the bathroom to see Billy still standing in the foyer. “Billy.” He snaps out of whatever trance he was in and looks at Steve, confused, until he realizes what he’s supposed to be doing. He walks into the bathroom.

“Okay, so I’m going to start with your face, but after, I’m a, I’m going to need to uh, you know.”

“You’re going to need me to do what, Harrington.”

“You’re shirt. There’s so shit wrong with your ribcage and stomach. I just need to make sure it’s nothing too bad.”

Oh. It’s not like it was something Steve hadn’t seen before, they had played basketball together before; it just felt different this time, with no one else there and with all that happened last night. 

“Uh, yeah, sure. Just tell me when I need to take it off.”

Steve smiles, and it’s a little awkward, but they don’t say anything about it as Billy sits on the counter. It hurts, but he figures Steve’s offering to help him, so he shouldn’t complain.

“You gonna talk about it,” Steve asks him, cleaning a cut above his eyebrow.

“Not really, no,” Billy huffs, trying to ignore the burning sensation the medicine causes.

“Bills. Please, just tell me what happened.”

Billy was pretty sure Steve knew what had happened. After what Max had said, he wouldn’t really be surprised. Harrington is stupid, but he’s not an idiot, He can put two and two together. The only reason the entire party didn’t know was because the boys were too busy bitching to each other about him “invading their space” to realize the severity of Max’s words.

“You already know. You heard what Max had said. He did it.”

Steve's shoulders slumped and he puts down the cotton ball he’s using to clean the open wounds. Very slowly, very lightly, he puts his hands on the side of Billy’s face, his pointer finger playing with the loose hairs near his ears. Billy leans forward a little, trying to send Steve a message without using his words. Steve seems to understand. He tilts his head slightly and rests his forehead on Billy’s, their lips touching even though they aren’t kissing.

“I’m sorry.”

“‘S not your fault, Stevie. There’s nothing you could’ve done to stop it. He was in a bad mood today.Got home too late.”

“You should’ve gone home. I shouldn’t have made you stay over; I shouldn’t have made you go out with us after. You would’ve been home earlier if I had just-” Steve pauses, ducks his head away, and it looks like he’s blushing, but Billy can’t be sure because he’s out of the bathroom as soon as Billy realizes he left.

“Where’re you going?”

“I’m getting a towel! I’ll be back! Don’t move!”

Yeah. Like Billy would want to move. He gotten around after worse, but it was still a pain in the ass and he usually had a few hours of sleep. Billy could see towels poking out of the closet in the bathroom, knew that Steve didn’t have to go to fucking Narnia to grab them, but he let him, because whatever Steve was going to say had obviously done something to him, and Billy knew when people needed space.

Steve came back with a bag of Hershey kisses, chocolate milk, and a towel. He smiled at Billy, a soft one that barely ever shows itself, and it makes Billy’s entire body flush; he tans easily though, even in the fall, so Steve barely sees it. “Comfort food! I figured it would hurt after that, so. I don’t know if you like, eat chocolate or whatever but,” Steve trails off and drops the stuff on the other side of the counter. He grabs a cloth from the first aid kit and dunks it in the alcohol. Gently, always so gently, he grabs Billy’s face and wipes the open wounds. Billy tries to hide the fact that it hurts, but Steve knows, so he rubs his thumb against BIlly’s cheek, trying to sooth the pain. 

“Okay your face doesn’t seem that bad, your jaw is gonna need ice after, but I want to check the back of your head to make sure nothing’s bleeding and stuff,” Steve puts the wash cloth down and takes his hand from Billy’s face to his hand, before stopping short. “You’re gonna need to get up so uh-”

Billy takes his hand and starts to get off the counter. His sides burn and his back stings like hell, but he manages to turn his back to Steve so that he can check his head. 

“Okay, uh, i don’t really know how to do this so I’m just gonna-” Steve puts his hands in Billy’s hair and starts to feel around for anything.

Billy would be lying if he said it didn’t feel,, nice. Because it did. Sue him for liking hands in his hair. But that barely has his attention when he finally looks up and sees himself in the mirror. His jaw looked like shit and his eyes were a little red. Like he’d been crying a few hours ago. Which he had been, but that's besides the point. He can see the remains of blood from where Steve had cleaned him up, and he can almost see the bruising through his shirt. 

“Fuck, I look like I just took a swan dive off a fucking cliff.”

“I think you look fine. You look better without all the bruises-”

“Steve.”

“Fine. Yeah. Sorry.” Steve takes his hands out of Billy’s hair, seemingly done his search.

“This the part where you ask me to take my shirt off?”

Steve rolled his eyes and threw a Hershey kiss at him.

Billy’s head is in Steve’s lap, and Steve’s fingers are in his hair. They’re watching some shitty old rom-com, and Billy isn’t really paying attention because he knows that they should talk about it, about how they kissed in Steve’s parents’ bed and in the bathroom, but everything is just so calm that he doesn’t want to.

Which is why he’s disappointed when Steve starts to talk.

“So you don’t want to talk about it,” he moves his thumb so that it ghosts over the scar on Billy’s jaw, “which is fine. I’m not going to make you talk about something you don’t want to talk about. But I do think we should talk about. You know. This. Whatever this is. If there is a this.”

Billy wanted to puke; not because he didn’t like Steve, of course he liked him. He just didn’t want to have to deal with the rejection. Didn’t want to have to deal with Steve laughing at him and saying that he’s not a fag. Not a fucking fag like you.

“Do we have to,” he asks, turning his head so that he’s looking up at Steve.

“I’d like to, but you’ve been through a lot today, so I won’t force you,” and Steve is looking down at him, and he feels bad about trying to brush it off because Steve just wants to care about him. It was written all over his face.

Billy looks away from him. Tries to separate himself from Steve without lifting his head up because he’s so fucking comfortable. “I guess we can,” he mumbles out.

Steve lets out a huff of satisfaction before tapping at Billy’s ear. “I need you to get up, Blondie.” Steve starts to shift from under him, trying to remove his head without actually removing it.

God damnit. Billy sighs and lifts himself from Steve; he goes slowly, making sure he doesn’t hurt his jaw. Or his side. Or his ribs. Pretty much his entire body. He finally gets himself into a sitting position and looks at Steve. Not in his eyes. He looks at his eyebrows, his nose, his hair. Anywhere but the brown.

“Okay. So. You kissed me. And then I kissed you. And then we kissed in the bathroom.”

“Yeah, I was there.”

Steve just rolls his eyes. He lets out a breath. Closes his eyes for a second before opening them again. Stalling. “So. Okay. Yeah.Uh.”

“Just spit it out, Pretty Boy. You’re thinking too hard.”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay. So. I like you--and tell me if I’m wrong--you like me.”

Billy looks down at his hands. He wants to say yes. He can feel it bubble in his throat. Steve even admitted to liking him. There’s nothing to be scared of. Billy kissed him first. There’s no reason to be a pussy now. But god, he’s so fucking scared. He’s done shit with guys. Obviously he’s not some fucking virgin. But he’s only ever dated a guy once. And that ended with the guy getting beaten to a fucking pulp and he had to move to fucking Hawkins. So, yeah, Billy’s fucking scared. 

Billy breaths and looks up at Steve. Steve’s staring at him, waiting, but he’s not annoyed. He’s just looking at him, and Billy thinks he might melt. Steve reaches out for his hand before letting it fall. Billy grabs it from where it sits between them. He’s still looking up at Steve, and he just wants to kiss him. And Steve’s face looks so open. And Billy just. He just doesn’t care anymore. He doesn’t give a fuck about anything, because Steve just looks so nice. So Billy lifts his hands to Steve’s face, which is harder than you’d think because he didn’t take his meds today, and his hands aren’t as great as they were before the Flayer. But he does it anyway, and he pulls him close. 

“Yeah, you’re not wrong.” And Now their lips are together, and Steve hinds are on his back because even kissing Billy he’s scared to hurt him. Steve’s hands are under his shirt which is actually Steve’s shirt because he refuses to wear the same outfit in a row without washing it. He has class.Steve lets out a noise and then Billy’s tongue is there to catch it and he’s sitting in Steve’s lap, and Steve’s hands move up, up, up, and tug at his hair and he’s the one making noise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha yeah 💔💔


	7. Neil Hargrove is a bitch baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: homophobic slurs and a bunch of degrading words towards Max made by men   
> hi this is short cause i’m very sad about Heatwaves (ifykyk) possibly getting deleted by the author. i don’t even watch mcyty friend just made me read it and now i’m attached 🙄🙄🙄🙄. anyways uh. this chapter is like sad i guess but i didn’t want to make them. super upset about it. so it might come up later but it might not you know 💅💅💅

Billy kissed Steve’s cheek before he got up. He went to the foyer and grabbed his boots, and went back to the couch to grab his jacket (and, yeah, he could’ve grabbed it before, but he really just wanted another reason to see Steve again). Billy turns around, but he forgot how close to the coffee table he was, and winds up hitting his shin against the corner; he lets out a hiss of pain. Steve starts to wake up. 

Steve blinks up at him and starts to sit up. “Where're you going,” he manages to slur out. 

“Gotta pick up Max, Will, and El.I was gonna go to the kitchen and make you coffee and then wake you up.”

Steve hums in approval and starts to lay back down before he realizes why he woke up in the first place. “What happened? What’d you do, are you hurt,” even in his half asleep, blitzed out phase, Steve is still worrying about people. 

“‘M fine, pretty boy, I just hit my shin on the table. Nothing I can’t handle.”

Steve frowns at him. Billy smiles at him and goes to make the coffee. 

“We need to get the kids, it’s been like. Two and a half hours, Stevie.”

Steve, who’s trying not to put too much weight on Billy’s stomach as he lays on top of him, groans and wraps his arms around him. “Don’t want to. Sorry, Steve is out of commission for the day.”

“Steve.”

“No.” 

“Stevie, come on, you have to go pick up Lucas, Wheeler, and Curly.”

“Mike and Dustin.”

“See? I don’t even know their names. You’re the only one that can do it, pretty boy. C’mon, get up.”

Steve groans again, but starts to sit up. The phone starts to ring and he stretches before he goes to answer. “Hello, Harrington house this is Ste-”

“Steve! Steve thank God! Steve where’s Billy?”

“W-Max what’s going on?” Billy perks up at his sister’s name and starts to stand, but stops when Steve puts his hand up. 

“He-ohmygod Steve, he went and checked at his work for him but he wasn’t there. He-he must’ve known that I was at the arcade and-Steve please just tell me if Billy is okay, Steve please oh my god.”

“Yeah! Yeah he’s right here with me. Max what are you talking about?”

Max takes in a breath, and he’s just realizing that it sounds like she’s been crying. He hears a bit of noise, and suddenly he’s talking to Will.

“Neil, Steve. Neil went to Billy’s work looking for him. He knew that Max was at the arcade and went to go and find her. Lucas was in the bathroom, so Dustin went to keep him in there so that Neil didn’t see but oh my god, Steve. He’s so scary,” Will’s voice cracks at the end, and Steve knows how hard it must’ve been for him. “Max told him that Billy was coming to pick them up, but Neil didn’t believe her. We had to get Keith to tell him to leave; he tried to get Max to come with him, but she threatened to tell her mother, so he let her stay.”

Steve is silent. What the fuck is he supposed to say? Sorry my boyfriend’s crazy dad just came asking for him? Sorry I was too busy making out with him to come and pick you up?’’

“Steve?”

“Yeah, Will?”

“You need to come and pick us up. WIth Billy. We have to all go to my house, okay? Neil is fucking angry, and it’s to dangerous to let Billy and Max go home.”

Steve is still frozen.

“Steve?”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

“Okay. We’re still at the arcade. You guys just need to come and get us. Keith is getting antsy. I gotta go, Steve.” 

Will hangs up, and Steve turns to face Billy, who looks as if he can’t decide whether he’s confused or annoyed. 

“What was that? Is Max okay? What happened.”

“Max is fine I think,” Steve refuses to look in his eyes, “but Neil showed up. According to Will, he went to your work to look for you but you weren’t there. Obviously. So he went to the arcade. Lucas was in the bathroom, so Dustin went in to hang with him while Neil talked to MAx. He tried to take her home but Keith kicked him out, and she threatened to tell Susan. Will says that you and MAx need to stay at his house for the night because it’s too dangerous to go back home. He said that Neil was really fucking mad.”

Billy stands there, and Steve can tell that he’s looking at him, but he refuses to look up. He’s the reason that the kids were still at the arcade. He was the reason Billy wasn’t at the shop. Cause he was stupid and refused to get up an hour ago. Billy’s gotta know that. He’s gotta blame Steve for this. God, he probably blames Steve and he just got Billy he doesn’t want to-

“It’s not your fault, you know,” Billy says. He lifts Steve’s face so that he has to look at him. “My dad probably got the call about me not coming into work. I should’ve told you I had to leave, okay? This,” he moves his other hand around in a circle, “isn’t your fault, babes. You gotta know that before we leave. I don’t blame you, the kids don’t blame you, Joyce doesn’t blame you. No one thinks this is your fault, Steve.” 

Steve looks at him, really looks at him, and sees just how much Billy cares about this. Him. About him. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Billy asks, raising his eyebrow.

Steve snorts. “Okay. We need to go pick up the kids.”

“Onwards, amigo.”

“Need I remind you what just happened on my parents couch or? I feel like I deserve more than amigo.”

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.” 

The Party are all waiting outside when they get there. Billy barely has any time to get out of the car before Max and Will are running up to him, wrapping themselves around him, seemingly not caring about the bruises. Billy didn’t even really care because they’re hugging him, where scared for him, and that’s all he cares about right now. 

“I don’t know how he knew I was here, I don’t,” Max hiccups, and he can tell that she’s been crying this entire time, and his heart aches. “I don’t know how he knew, Billy. He’s so, he’s so mean. I’m so sorry.”

It hits Billy then. She’s hurt. Not physically, he’d never lay a hand on her, but he said something. Will’s been too quiet, too. He looks up at the other kids, and they all have the same look on their faces. Disgust. Terror. Fear. Pitty.

What the fuck did Neil say?

Billy starts to lower himself, and the two of them let go of him to let him fall to the ground. They sit in front of him, and he sees now why Will has been so quiet. He’s biting the inside of his cheek, hard, and he looks like he’s trying not to sob. He looks at the others again, and he can see Mike start talking to Steve, pointing at the three of them, and he looks mad. Steve grabs his shoulder to stop Mike from coming over. 

“What did he say to you?”

They look at each other like they’ve been caught.

“Nothing, Billy-”

“Max.”

She lets out a sigh and crawls to lay on his side; Will moves to his right. 

Max talks first. “He came in while Lucas was in the bathroom. We saw him before he saw us, and I told Dustin to stay in the bathroom with Lucas, and that, no matter what, they can’t come out until we come and get them. He saw me as soon as Dustin left.”

She starts coughing, and he rubs her back while Will picks up, “he started yelling. Not, like, loud or anything, I don’t know how to explain it. He was so quiet, but so mean. He asked her where you were, and she told him you were at work. He told her that she-” he stops talking and looks at Max, almost like he’s asking for permission. She smiles at him; it’s small, but it’s there. He sits back and she takes over again.

“He told me that I was a ‘fucking lying slut’ and that he got a call from your work saying you weren’t there. I think that’s when he noticed Mike and Will. That really set him off. He told me that you were-” she chokes on a sob and looks down. “I don’t want to say it.”

“It’s fine, Max. I can say this part, okay?” Will reaches across Billy and holds his hand out for her. God, something horrible must’ve happened if Max didn’t even want to say it.

“He said that you were,” he coughs, “you were out being a ‘goddamn faggot while she throws herself at a bunch of boys like a goddamn floozy.’ He called both of you,” another cough. Billy thinks that it’s his way of calming himself down, “said that both of you were ‘california sluts’ and that you ‘needed to be taught some fucking respect, that goddamn faggot’. And then he-” he breathes and lets go of Max’s hand, and she leans off of Billy because she knows what Neil said to Will. Will wraps his arms around Billy’s neck, and Billy turns so that they’re hugging as properly as they can against the side of the Camaro outside of the Hawkins Arcade. “He told Max that ‘not only is your brother a faggot, you’re hanging out with them now, too?” Billy’s breath catches in his throat. These kids had been through so much, the last thing they needed was to be called a bunch of shit by his asshole father. He’s gonna kill him if Max ever lets him go home.

“He uh, he started yelling at her about hanging out with me, but I wasn’t really listening. And then he,” Will hugs Billy tighter and Billy is so scared about what’s coming next. “He looked at me and told me that I was a ‘disgusting fucking faggot’; Keith kicked him out after that.” 

“I’m so sorry, Will. I’m so, so sorry.” Billy doesn’t know what to say. His father was an asshole, sure, but he never thought that he’d say something to someone else. He has a reputation to uphold, even if Billy and Max know that it’s bullshit. 

Will smiles at him and snorts. “It’s okay. I wasn’t even paying attention for most of it. I knew he wouldn’t do anything, he’s just so-”

“Terrifying?” Max helps.

“I was going more with gross, but yeah that’ll work,” Will snorts.

“He’s a prick.” Billy snorts at that, and Max looks pleased that she got him to laugh.

“Yeah. He is. Listen guys, I’m so sorry you had to deal with him, it’s my fault. If I had just gone to work, that wouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry-”

Max hits his arm lightly. “Shut up, dweeb. We’re fine, he didn’t do shit to us, okay? We were just worried about you. Yeah, it might’ve fucked us up a little, but we’re fine now. You deserve,” she looks at Steve, who’s watching them. She looks down and sees El sitting on the cirb. El smiles at her, something she only saves for when Max feels like ass, and Max blushes. “You deserve something good, Bill.”

“What was that!” Billy asks, turning toward Max..

“What was what?” Max asks, knowing full well he can see her blush. Will is looking at her as well, and he’s giving her a look like are you gonna tell him? And she laughs.

“That look, Max! The one with you and Jane!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, dummy,” she stands up and puts her hand out for Will, who takes it. She pulls him up, and looks at Billy. “You coming, or?”

“I thought she was dating Wheeler and you were dating Lucas!”

It’s Will’s turn to talk now. He turns around and laughs. “No, they broke up,” Max hits him. “That doesn’t mean anything, though. We gotta go back, Steve looks like he’s gonna slit Mikes’ throat.”

Billy looks up at the same time Steve does; Steve smiles at him, and it doesn’t really reach his eyes, but he’s trying, and it makes Billy want to cry. Good tears. Happy tears. “Whatever,” he coughs out, and the two of them flip him off. He knows they aren’t over it, not even close, but they’re okay right now, and that’s all he can hope for, really.


	8. Robin is a lesbian, Steven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Robin and Billy being best friends Robin and Billy being best friends Robin and Billy being best friends.

They’re all at the Byers house, and by the way the kids are all laughing and yelling at each other, you would have never guessed that they got berated by Neil Hargrove less than two hours ago. 

“Hey,” Bill says, poking Steve’s side, trying to get him to move form where he was planted on Billy’s side. “You gotta move.”

“Don’t wanna. I can’t even cuddle with you when they’re here, let me have this.”

“I gotta call someone, Pretty boy, I’ll come back. Let me leave.”

Steve groans but moves over to let Billy up. 

Billy walks to the kitchen and grabs a bottle of water from off the counter. Miss Byers is there, sitting on the counter next to the window, smoking a cigarette. 

“I would go outside, but sometimes I like this better. It makes me feel like a teenager again, I suppose,” she says to him as she stubs out her smoke and jumps from the counter. He snorts, and then tries to cover it up with a cough.

“Sorry to intrude, ma’am, I was just getting water. I also have to make a phone call to someone, is it okay if I use your phone?” he plasters on his fake smile and tries to sound as respectful as he can in his worn out state.

She smiles at him. She walks over to him and wraps her arms around his waist, and he tenses up at first. Why is this woman who he's only met once hugging him like she cares for him? He doesn’t get it. The only other adult that’s ever hugged him like this, petting his hair so gentle as if he’s going to break was his mother. And then it hits him. She must know that people in his family don’t go around hugging him and treating him so softly. He wraps his arms around her.

“Of course, sweetheart, whatever you need,” she whispers to him, and then she’s pulling away and turning to the cabinet to grab plates. “Now go make that call! The phone is in the hallway! I’m sorry you won’t get more privacy.”

He stares at her for a few seconds, baffled at what just happened, but he turns around and goes to the hall anyways.

The phone rings three times before she answers. “Hey, it’s the Buckley house-”

“Robin.”

“Oh shit, hey Bill, what’s up? You never call me.”

“I-” he stops, what does he even say to her? My dad is going to kill me and after that he’s probably going to kill Max, and he harassed her and her friend at the arcade because I was to busy making out with a guy--who, by the way, isn’t even his boyfriend--to pick them up? 

“Bill? Are you still there? What’s up, dude?” 

“Yeah, hi, sorry. I’m here. Uh-can you-uh-” he breaths. “I’m at the Byers. Max and I can’t go home right now, and Miss Byers is letting us crash here. Can you just-” this is stupid. She probably has better things to do than to hang out with him, who only ever talks to her when he knows no one is watching.

He hears her move around. “I’ll be there in five, I just gotta call Heather and tell her I can’t show today.” Shit. He forgot that she had told him she’s going on a date today.

“Oh, shit, Buckley, I’m sorry, I totally forgot. I’m fine you can go out with-”

“Nope. I’ve already made up my mind. I’ll go out with her later. You seem like you need me more right now. She’ll understand, you two are sorta friends or whatever.”

“You sure?” He feels like shit.

“Don’t stress it, Bill, see you in a bit.”  
“Yeah. See you.” She hangs up the phone before he does, and when he finally puts it back on the base and walks into the living room, he sees Steve, Will, and Max all staring at him. Jesus, why is it always them.

“Who’d you call?” Max asks him as he sits down next to Steve. She moves over so he’s squished between the two of them, with El sitting on Max’s other side.

“My friend. I asked her if she could come over,” he feels Steve tense next to him, as if he doesn’t know that Billy doesn’t like guys. As if he doesn’t know that Billy is quite possibly hopelessly in love with him.

“Friend? You don’t have friends, Bill.” El snorts

“Yeah, cause he’s a fucking asshole who shouldnt even be here-” Mike starts to say, but Max throws Billy’s full waterbottle at him. It hits him so hard his head gets thrown back a bit.

“Shut the fuck up, Micheal, or I swear to God, I will beat you within an inch of your life,” she continues to yell at him, and Billy figues he should step in.

“Max,” she either doesn’t hear him or chooses to ignore him. “Max,” he tries again. She’s still screaming at Wheeler number 2. “Mad Max!”

“Jesus Christ- What! He’s being a douche to you! He doesn’t even give you a second chance! You apologized to all of them, didn’t you? I don’t understand why they can’t see that you’re BETTER now!”

“Max, we went over this already. I’m not entitled to their forgiveness. You don’t have to defend me or whatever, okay?”

She’s mad at him, which doesn’t make sense, because she’s yelling at them for him, but sits down anyways. She glares at Wheeler, even when El puts her hand on her shoulder and whispers to her, up until they all hear a knock on the door.

“Who’s that?” Dustin asks. 

Billy walks over to the door and opens it to see Robin standing there with what seems like two bags filled with different types of chocolate. When he raises his eyebrow at him, she smiles and says, “you sounded sad. Figured this would help.”

“Trying to fatten me up, Buckley?”

She snorts. “As if that’d work, I’ve seen you eat three full cheeseburgers and an order of mega fires and not gain anything. I think you’ll be fine.” 

She walks into the house and places the bags on the counter. “Hey, Miss Byers! I’m Robin, sorry to show up sorta unannounced, Billy sounded sad and asked me to come over,” Robin talks to her as if she’s met her a million times. Maybe she had, Hawkins is the size of a fucking close pin, everyone knows everything about everyone. 

“Hello, Robin! Please, call me Joyce, no need for that ‘Miss Byers’ bullshit. Do you want dinner? It’ll be ready in about 15 minutes. We’re having lasagna. Jonathan is eating at the Wheelers, and I think I made too much.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll have dinner if that’s okay,” Robin smiles and turns to the living room, where everyone is staring at her. “Uh? Hi? I’m Robin, I’m Billy’s friend.” 

Will, Max, and El all smile at her, the boys look confused (like usual), and Steve just looks annoyed. Robin looks at Billy and back at Steve, raises her eyebrows and snorts. He rolls his eyes as she walks into the living room and plops to the ground, leaning against the couch, next to Will. “What’re you drawing, kid?”

Will looks at her, and glances up at Billy, who’s still standing at the counter in the kitchen. He shrugs. Will looks back at Robin and shows her his sketchbook. “Okay so-”

Billy’s laying on Robin’s lap, listening to WIll ramble on about some drawing in his sketchbook. Well, I mean, he’s trying to listen to WIll, but he just keeps staring at Steve, who constantly looks down at him and Robin and glares at the back of her head. 

Robin noticed a few minutes later that someone was staring at her, and tried to turn around to look, but stopped when Billy hit her thigh lightly. She gave him a look, raised her eyebrow, but Billy just shook his head. So, she’s currently listening to Will talk about his drawing he made for his next D&D campaign while pretending she doesn’t notice the man on the couch to her left, who is looking at her like she has the fucking plague or something.

Not how she wanted to be spending her Saturday night, but it’ll do. The three other boys keep looking at her and whispering to each other, and she really wants to tell them to knock it off or she’ll break their fingers, but she figures that wouldn’t make her a good role model for the two girls sitting behind her, one of which she knows as Billy’s younger sister, who, for some reason, remind her a lot of her and Heather. She pokes Billy in the side and goes to tell him this, when she sees Steve fucking Harrington storm out of the room, a pack of cigarettes in his hands. 

Billy stares at her, and at the hallway Steve just walks down which presumably leads to the back door, which she hears slam closed.

“What the fuck was that about?” She hears the one with the black hair that looks like it’s growing out of a bowl cut say. She thinks his name is Mike, but she’s not sure.

Billy looks at her again, and she glances at him before looking pointedly at the hallway the Harrignton walked down. He lets out a small sigh and gets up.

“I’ll go check, I guess,” he says, and walks away. She hears the door squeak and slam again.

Great. Now she’s stuck with a bunch of hormonal teenage boys who won't stop ogling her, and two girls who’re giggling behind their hands and whispering, who seem to be making it their life goal to make her miss her girlfriend more than she already does. She groans and moves to lay down on the floor. The boy’s eyes follow her. She feels like a model or something. 

BIlly sits down on the bottom stair next to Steve. Steve’s smoking a cigarette, which is weird because Billy doesn’t remember Steve even carrying cigarettes on him anymore, but he doesn’t question it.

“Robin seems nice,” and Billy doesn’t really know what to think about that because, like, what? He already told Steve that he doesn’t like girls, and he figured if any of them were going to fall hopelessly in love with her it’d probably wind up being Steve. Not that Robin would say yes, with Heather and all. 

“I mean, uh, yeah, she’s probably like my only friend. Besides you I guess but I don’t really know if you count anymore.:

“What does that mean? Why wouldn’t I count?”

“Uh, well like, I don’t know just with, like, everything that happened. But that doesn’t matter right now we can talk about that later. Why are you glaring at Robin like that? Why did you just storm out of the house? What’s wrong?” Steve throws his cigarette and crushes it with his shoe.

“I don’t know, maybe the fact that you’re looking at her like she hangs the fucking moon? You tell me you don’t like girls and then it looks like you have a fucking girlfriend? You’re laying in her lap while she plays with your hair, dude!” Steve breaths out through his nose and starts again. “I just. I don’t understand why you even had to call her? I’m here, Will is here, Max is here, hell, the fucking kids are here. WHy do you feel like you need to talk to her? Why can’t you like,” Steve pauses. Grabs Billy’s hand. “Why can’t you just talk to me.”

Billy can’t even help it. He doesn’t mean to, really, but he snorts. He starts laughing. Steve looks at him like he ran over a dog. “Why are you laughing?”

“I’m so sorry-” Billy’s laughter starts to die down, and now just comes out in little spurts. I’m so sorry for laughing but ohmygod. Steve,” he puts his hand on the side of Steve’s face and makes him look at him. “I don’t have a thing going on with Buckley. She has a girlfriend, and I don’t like girls. Trust me, I’ve tried. If anything, I thought you might fall for her, she seems kinda like your type.”

“I don’t have a type.” 

“Sure you do. Short, loud, doesn’t take shit from anyone, could beat your ass.”

“You aren’t short.”

“Sure, but I’m also a guy, and I’m shorter than you, so I guess it counts. But back to what you said about me not talking to you. I didn’t call Buckley because I wanted to talk to her about Neil, as much as it might’ve seemed. I told her about him on the phone so I wouldn’t have to say why I really called. She even thought I called her for Neil until she got here. But I didn’t.”

“If you didn’t call her to talk about Neil, why’d you call her in the first place?” Steve still can’t tell that Billy might possibly be in love with him. Billy doesn’t know if that’s good or bad.

Billy sighs and looks down. Then back up, he smiles. “I called her to talk about you, idiot.”

Steve stares at him. He blinks a few times, and he’s so pale that Billy can see the pink on his cheeks. “Oh.”

Billy kisses Steve’s nose real quick before standing up and holding out his hand. Steve looks dazed. “Yeah, ‘oh’, dweeb. Now let’s get back before they think I’m hiding your body or something.”

Everyone is sitting at the table by the time they get inside. Steve has no idea how they managed to turn 4 chairs into 10, but there’s 8 people sitting down, and two chairs for him and Billy. They’re right next to each other, and on one side Robin is there, smiling at them, and on the other Joyce is cutting the lasagna and dishing it onto plates. She looks up and waves them over. 

Billy sits next to Robin and whispers something to her. She laughs and pokes him with her fork lightly. He hits her, but he’s smiling, and he looks over at Steve for a moment. Steve almost dies. Billy looks so happy, you wouldn’t even guess that three people at the table want him gone or that he spent months alone in a hospital with only shitty government doctors to talk to. His eyes fucking sparkle like they’re in some Disney movie. He draws what feels like a smiley face on Steve’s thigh with his finger and then looks back at Robin. 

Steve looks at the people at the table; the four boys yelling about what he thinks to be DnD, but it could also very well be physics, Max and El, who keep talking to each other about some music they like and laughing, and seem like they might be holding hands under the table. Huh. He’d have to look into that. Joyce who’s walking around, giving everyone a plate of food. And Bill and Robin, who are whispering to each other like they have the hottest gossip in town. Joyce gives him his plate last. He thanks her for it, and takes a bite. It might be the greatest lasagna he’s ever had.


End file.
